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Jeronimo happy with first up triumph

Pleased to have played a part in the Reds’ win over Perth, Jeronimo admits there is still a lot for him to improve on following his Round 1 performance.

Pleased to have played a part in the Reds- win over Perth, Jeronimo admits there is still a lot for him to improve on following his Round 1 performance.

The scorer of a first half double that set Adelaide United on its way to a 3-1 victory, Jeronimo was, like any striker, happy to sink a couple into the back of the net but not completely satisfied with the quality of his output.

“The two goals were good but I don-t feel like I played very good…with my back to the goal I lost many balls so it-s something I need to improve on,” Jeronimo said after the squad-s recovery session this morning.

The 27 year old was a central figure in yesterday-s entertaining yet bruising encounter. Not only did he score two goals, but he spent much of the match with a bandage around his head after copping a stray unintentional Steve Pantelidis boot to the forehead, while he was also one of ten players to receive yellow cards throughout the 90 minutes.

The high card count claimed two victims with Nigel Boogaard and Isaias both being sent off for second bookable offences, meaning they are both suspended for the clash with Melbourne Victory on Harvey Norman Friday Night Football.

Jeronimo quashed any suggestion the Reds had a disciplinary issue, instead putting the high number of cards in the game down to everyone being somewhat on edge for the opening game of the season.

“It-s a little bit of a concern and we need to improve in that because there were too many yellow cards and two players out, so we need to work on that,” Jeronimo said.

“It was a hard game, it was our first game, the players on both teams were probably a little bit nervous trying to make a good impression so I think going into the next game it will be much better.”

The Reds do not have long to savour their first up win of their 2013/14 campaign as they face a short turnaround before hosting the Victory on Friday in a match that is set to pay homage to Adelaide United-s first ever game which was against the Brisbane Strikers on October 17, 2003.

Jeronimo, who scored the winner against Melbourne Victory the last time the two teams met, knows the magnitude of these encounters but says the focus will be on kicking off the season with six points from the first two home games.

“We know it-s the derby. For us it-s a very important game but we-re going to approach it like every game - play hard and try to win, especially because it-s at home.”